topic Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release in ArcGIS Runtime SDK for Android Questions

Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

JasonKiesel — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:18:16 GMT

We just updated the ESRI Android SDK to the latest version (going from beta to release) and we were at once riddled with new errors. The project didn't even build once when the .JAR files were updated. We had something on the order of 50 to 60 build errors. We've finally got the build errors gone, but now we can't even view an Activity that has a MapView included.

We've looked at the docs, even double checked them, but we're getting a fatal exception with the new SDK.

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

WillCrick — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:56:44 GMT

Can you provide some information on the fatal errors you are experiencing? e.g. When does it crash, the logcat logs, some information/code snippets on how you are loading and adding layers to your map etc...

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

DanO_Neill — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 19:18:58 GMT

The ArcGIS Runtime SDK for Android v1.0.1 uses OpenGL ES 2.0 API to render map images. This resulted in changes to the API from our beta release and are the most likely case for project errors in apps built with the beta API. You have a few options and all include refactoring your code to the release API. I believe the easiest approach is to create a New Project with all the same project name/package/etc. from your beta apps. This will ensure your project is updated to support the release API. Next import the source from your beta project into the New Project. You should get errors on your source code. These errors are most likely due one or all of the following:

1. API changes in your code. There have been some changes to the core API which will need to be refactored.
2. Map Layers are no longer Android Views. We no longer support adding layers through XML layout. You will need to add layers programmatically in Java. The base Layer class is used for all layers that can be added to a MapView. E.g. If you want to add an Dynamic Map Service layer you will need to use the ArcGISDynamicMapServiceLayer class.
3. MapView XML Layout. We no longer support adding MapView layer service URL's through XML layout. MapView is still an Android View but the underlying layers are not so you can still reference your MapView from XML layout but we only support Web Map URL's. You can still set the initial extent of your MapView in XML Layout.

As Will noted above, if you provide us with specific details about the errors you are experiencing we can help you resolve them. I understand this effort may be taxing, but we believe the benefits significantly outweigh the costs. I appreciate your attempt to find resolution within our doc system and we will work on providing some better documentation to support moving from our beta API to release.

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

DennisBaliton — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:18:22 GMT

This is in regards to Jason's original post. I followed the instructions on importing an existing project and I have updated our source code so that it compiles using the new ESRI SDK. The error occurs while loading and adding a mapview layer.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Stack Trace .~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
01-03 11:05:13.521: E/AndroidRuntime(1660): Caused by: java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{com.citysourced/com.citysourced.activity.MapScreen}: java.lang.NullPointerException
01-03 11:05:13.521: E/AndroidRuntime(1660): at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:1830)
01-03 11:05:13.521: E/AndroidRuntime(1660): at android.app.ActivityThread.startActivityNow(ActivityThread.java:1656)
01-03 11:05:13.521: E/AndroidRuntime(1660): at android.app.LocalActivityManager.moveToState(LocalActivityManager.java:127)
01-03 11:05:13.521: E/AndroidRuntime(1660): at android.app.LocalActivityManager.startActivity(LocalActivityManager.java:339)
01-03 11:05:13.521: E/AndroidRuntime(1660): at com.citysourced.activity.TabActivityGroup.startChildActivity(TabActivityGroup.java:16)
01-03 11:05:13.521: E/AndroidRuntime(1660): at com.citysourced.activity.MapActivityGroup.onCreate(MapActivityGroup.java:23)
01-03 11:05:13.521: E/AndroidRuntime(1660): at android.app.Instrumentation.callActivityOnCreate(Instrumentation.java:1072)
01-03 11:05:13.521: E/AndroidRuntime(1660): at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:1794)
01-03 11:05:13.521: E/AndroidRuntime(1660): ... 18 more
01-03 11:05:13.521: E/AndroidRuntime(1660): Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
01-03 11:05:13.521: E/AndroidRuntime(1660): at com.citysourced.activity.MapScreen.onCreate(MapScreen.java:181)
01-03 11:05:13.521: E/AndroidRuntime(1660): at android.app.Instrumentation.callActivityOnCreate(Instrumentation.java:1072)
01-03 11:05:13.521: E/AndroidRuntime(1660): at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:1794)

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Source Code .~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
//Strings.xml
<string name="url_map_tiles">http://services.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Street_Map/MapServer</string>

//MapScreen.java
    mMapView.addLayer(new ArcGISDynamicMapServiceLayer(getString(R.string.url_map_tiles)));
//Retrieve the non-configuration instance data that was previously returned.
Object init = getLastNonConfigurationInstance();
if (init != null) {
   mMapView.restoreState((String) init);
}

               ...

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

ArchanaAgarwal — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:26:53 GMT

Hello Dennis,

Here is the code from the onCreate() method in the helloworld sample from the sdk.
Its been modified to get the url from values->string.xml.

Thanks
Archana

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

                // could not see these two lines in the code posted
                super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);

// Retrieve the map and initial extent from XML layout
map = (MapView)findViewById(R.id.map);
// Add dynamic layer to MapView
//map.addLayer(new ArcGISDynamicMapServiceLayer("" +    "http://services.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Street_Map/MapServer"));

                map.addLayer(new ArcGISDynamicMapServiceLayer(getString(R.string.url_map_tiles)));

//Retrieve the non-configuration instance data that was previously returned.
Object init = getLastNonConfigurationInstance();
if (init != null) {
   map.restoreState((String) init);
}
}

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

DennisBaliton — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:43:51 GMT

mMapView is an instance of the object MapView in our app, as map is in the HelloWorld example. Please explain if I'm missing something here.

mMapView.addLayer(new ArcGISDynamicMapServiceLayer(getString(R.string.url_map_tiles)));

map.addLayer(new ArcGISDynamicMapServiceLayer(getString(R.string.url_map_tiles)));

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

ArchanaAgarwal — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:30:05 GMT

That is correct, and there are two ways you can create an instance, either by using the new operator
MapView m = new MapView(this)

Or in xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    >

    
    <com.esri.android.map.MapView
    android:id="@+id/map"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    initExtent = "-19332033.11, -3516.27, -1720941.80, 11737211.28">
   </com.esri.android.map.MapView>

</LinearLayout>

In code you would have to use the following :
map = (MapView)findViewById(R.id.map);

Here is the code to create mapview by using the new operator:
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
map = new MapView(this);
map.addLayer(new ArcGISDynamicMapServiceLayer(getString(R.string.url)));
setContentView(map);

//Retrieve the non-configuration instance data that was previously returned.
Object init = getLastNonConfigurationInstance();
if (init != null) {
   map.restoreState((String) init);
}
}

protected void onPause() {
super.onPause();
map.pause();
}

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

DennisBaliton — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:53:28 GMT

We're instantiating via XML- attaching code snippets from Java class file and XML(layout).

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
    // Instantiate MapView...
    mMapView = (MapView) findViewById(R.id.mapView);
// Add dynamic layer to MapView
    mMapView.addLayer(new ArcGISDynamicMapServiceLayer(getString(R.string.url_map_tiles)));
//Retrieve the non-configuration instance data that was previously returned.
Object init = getLastNonConfigurationInstance();
if (init != null) {
   mMapView.restoreState((String) init);
}

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:background="@android:color/transparent" >

    <RelativeLayout
        android:id="@+id/mapViewContent"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"
        android:layout_above="@+id/controlbuttons"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true" >


<com.esri.android.map.MapView
   android:id="@+id/map"
   android:layout_width="fill_parent"
   android:layout_height="fill_parent"
   initExtent = "-1.3296373526814876E7 3930962.41823043 -1.2807176545789773E7 4201243.7502468005">
</com.esri.android.map.MapView>

    ...

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

ArchanaAgarwal — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:50:25 GMT

public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);

mMapView = (MapView)findViewById(R.id.map);
mMapView.addLayer(new ArcGISDynamicMapServiceLayer(getString(R.string.url)));

//Retrieve the non-configuration instance data that was previously returned.
Object init = getLastNonConfigurationInstance();
if (init != null) {
mMapView.restoreState((String) init);
}
}

The code works with the additional lines as shown in red.

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

DennisBaliton — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:08:10 GMT

This is what we have.

public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    Utility.logInfo(CLASSNAME, "onCreate", "");
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
    setContentView(R.layout.mycityhomescreen);

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

PeterGlenewinkel — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 06:08:53 GMT

Hi,

i have had the same problem i think.

mMapView.addLayer(new ArcGISDynamicMapServiceLayer(getString(R.string.url)));

This is the point which causes the Nullpointerexception. You can do a workaround if you create a string:
String url = getResources().getString(R.string.url);
then do:
mMapView.addLayer(new ArcGISDynamicMapServiceLayer(url);

I think if you would do it your way the string returned from "getString(R.string.url)" is null because the android system initializes the mapview before the strings from the call getString could be initialized.

Please excuse my poor english! 🙂

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

DennisBaliton — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:56:52 GMT

Hello,

glenewinkel89, I tried that and I'm still getting a null return value.

Dennis

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

SaurabhGupta — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:43:35 GMT

Hi Dennis,

Can you please try creating a new ArcGIS Android Project (not a sample) and then port your code into that project. And see if you still get the same error ?

Also, if you can debug your app and see if the value for getString(R.string.url) is null or not ?

Regards.

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

DennisBaliton — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:02:46 GMT

Hello,

I am still getting the same error.

1.) - Port the existing code using the following method.
------a.) Create an "ArcGIS Project for Android"
------b.) used the original Package Name
------c.) Imported the project
------d.) Fixed all the errors
------e.)Build and tested on an HTC Sensation
------f.)**Same result, null value when trying to addLayer.
------e.)line where the exception occurs.
mMapView.addLayer(new ArcGISDynamicMapServiceLayer(url));

2.) - I am using "http://services.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Street_Map/MapServer" and it is being evaluated at runtime

String url = getString(R.string.url_map_tiles);
mMapView.addLayer(new ArcGISDynamicMapServiceLayer(url));

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

DanO_Neill — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:07:56 GMT

Don't want to get too caught up on language but what do you mean in step 1c. "Imported the project"? Be sure not to import your beta project, only the source as when you create a new project with the SDK Eclipse plugin all your settings and required libraries are up to date for release app development. At this point you should only need to bring in source java and/or XML files from your beta project and refactor appropriately.

Next: Can you test the service directly from the MapView.addLayer() method? I would like to isolate your issue and confirm so please remove the String url and replace with the actual URL string "http://services.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Street_Map/MapServer" and let us know if your app starts working or if you continue to have issues. I understand you may have a requirement to not access services in this way I just want to test and isolate the issue if possible.

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

DennisBaliton — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:19:11 GMT

I created another "ArcGIS Project for Android" project, manually moved the source files, fixed errors, and hardcoded the URL in the addLayer call.
Same result.

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

DennisBaliton — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:02:51 GMT

It's finally working, there was a missing close bracket in the layout xml.

Thank you for everyone's help.

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

DanO_Neill — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:03:30 GMT

Fantastic! Glad you got it sorted out.

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

SaurabhGupta — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:38:48 GMT

Glad to hear that.

But just to be clear, it worked by using an ArcGIS Android project + manually copying the src files.
And it fails if you use an Android project.

Re: Fatal exceptions when updating from Beta to Release

DennisBaliton — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:15:17 GMT

I tried many things to make it work, but creating an ArcGIS Android project + manually copying the src files did work. Be mindful of the fact that methods have been
re-written/changed and that you will have to refactor your code. We have a medium to large collection of source files so refactoring the source took time to complete.
In hindsight, maybe I should have taken notes and documented the process.